“Give me back my divinity~!!”

With a face full of grievance, as if carrying all the world’s injustices, Alon swallowed his surprise and asked, “What are you talking about?”

“Don’t pretend you don’t know! You took all my divinity!”

“……I took all your divinity?”

The girl looked even more aggrieved at Alon’s response.

‘What is she talking about?’

Alon decided to stay calm and think.

Why was the girl in front of him demanding the return of her divinity?

Then—

“Ah.”

Alon let out a quiet exclamation.

The Thunder Serpent quest.

The NPC.

The girl who always appeared.

His thoughts linked one after another— and ultimately, he reached a single conclusion.

“……Kalannon?”

An uncertain, yet at this moment, the most logical guess.

At that name—

“Why are you pretending not to know when you do!?”

The girl—no, Kalannon—clenched her fists and shouted again.

Alon realized his deduction was correct.

But what he still couldn’t understand was—

“I took your divinity?”

That he had supposedly stolen the divinity of Kalannon, the lightning receiver.

Alon couldn’t agree with that claim.

Never once had he—

Let alone tried to steal someone else’s divinity—

Even attempted to become a god of his own volition.

Yet, in response to Alon’s protest—

“Huh?”

Kalannon placed both hands on her hips and shouted as if dumbfounded.

“You didn’t just take it! You completely turned me into a forgotten relic!”

“Me?”

“Yes! You! Can’t you see this?!”

Kalannon spread her hands wide toward the sky.

Then, in what had once been a night sky filled with the Milky Way, familiar statues began appearing one after another.

“Here, there, over there, at the very end, and even here!!”

Everywhere stood statues erected by the Thunder Serpent tribe.

Showing them furiously, the girl fumed,

“They’re all you, not me! Because of you! You’ve taken all the faith that should have come to me!”

She spat out her resentment.

Alon quickly grasped the situation.

“Hmm, I get the gist of it. But as ridiculous as this sounds, I never acted with the intent to steal your divinity.”

“How does that even make sense?”

“I also think it doesn’t make much sense, but…”

“Then are you saying the believers who should have worshipped me suddenly started following you for no reason? The faith that should have been mine—why is it going to you?!”

As if daring him to deny it, Kalannon glared at him with eyes full of disbelief.

Yet, Alon stood firm.

“I feel bad saying this, but I’m innocent.”

Truly.

“I have never once said or done anything to manipulate this situation.”

…Or so he thought.

“……”

Alon stopped speaking.

Because suddenly, a hypothesis flashed through his mind.

Something so obvious, he had overlooked it completely.

A fact he had ignored all this time.

‘Could it be… because of that phrase?’

Alon had never once claimed to be Kalannon, the lightning receiver.

He had never acted as such.

Furthermore,

He had done nothing that could have made people suspect him of being Kalannon.

That is—until he learned the girl in front of him was Kalannon.

Up until then, he had believed himself innocent.

[Under the low sky, I shall find my way to you. Rejoice, for you who greet the dawn shall welcome me.]

Alon recalled the phrase.

The words he had spoken in front of the Thunder Serpent tribe.

It was the very phrase—

That the girl had mentioned, the one that had made the Thunder Serpent tribe revere him.

That one moment of repeating those words.

That was undoubtedly what had led to the misunderstanding that he was Kalannon.

“Ah.”

At last, the pieces of the puzzle that had baffled him began to fit together.

The coherence built up.

Scattered doubts started to resolve—

“You did, didn’t you?”

However.

“See! You did!!”

Kalannon stomped her feet in frustration.

“……”

Alon could only avert his gaze slightly.

***

Alon had spoken that phrase, and though he didn’t fully understand the process by which faith had gathered around him, the conclusion remained the same.

He had been mistaken for Kalannon— and in the process, had stolen the divinity meant for her.

That was the truth of the matter.

Alon looked at the girl.

The girl, in turn, stared—no, glared—at Alon.

Her teary eyes pricked at his conscience.

Clearing his throat needlessly, he finally apologized.

“I didn’t mean for this to happen, but… I’m sorry.”

A simple, straightforward apology.

To which Kalannon, still full of resentment, opened her mouth—

“Give it ba—”

But then—

“Huh?”

“?”

Her pupils suddenly dilated, and she shut her mouth.

“……Hey?”

“Something wrong?”

Like a paused screen, Kalannon froze in place.

As Alon tilted his head in confusion—

“……Ah, no.”

As if a rusty machine groaning into motion, Kalannon awkwardly responded.

Then, wiping the frustration from her face, she forced a smile.

“No, actually… I should be the one apologizing…Thinking about it, I don’t really have the right to blame you.”

“……Suddenly?”

And now she was even apologizing?

Alon was taken aback by Kalannon’s abrupt change in attitude.

But despite her stiff, awkward smile, she pressed on.

“Yes—either way, I wouldn’t have been able to help my believers, and, well… I guess I would have been forgotten naturally.”

Alon easily understood what she meant.

After all, in the game, the NPC Kalannon didn’t appear in the early stages but only after some progress had been made.

Sorting out his thoughts, Alon got to the point.

“So, what do you want me to do? Do you want me to return your divinity—”

“No, no, no, no!”

Before he could even finish his sentence, Kalannon shook her head vehemently.

“Absolutely not. No way, no how… I mean, I thought I asked for my divinity back at first, but after thinking about it, I realized that’s impossible.”

“Why not?”

Finally stopping her frantic head-shaking, Kalannon awkwardly clasped her hands together.

“Regardless of how unfair this feels to me, the faith is already directed toward you. You know the basic principles of divinity, don’t you?”

“You mean, when faith accumulates, one can become a god?”

“Exactly. And since you’re already receiving faith as Kalannon, the lightning receiver, there’s no way for me to take it back.”

“Wouldn’t it be enough if I simply told them myself?”

“No matter how much you tell them you’re not Kalannon, that faith won’t break so easily. Faith inherently travels through belief and anchors itself in a symbol to manifest its results.”

After a brief pause, Kalannon added,

“Even if you correct their belief and redirect the faith back to me, my divinity would have already weakened significantly.”

“Why?”

“If it were a gradual shift over a long period, it might work. But if the object of faith suddenly changes, faith doesn’t accumulate as easily.”

After a moment of consideration, Kalannon offered an example.

“If I told you I was the primordial god, would you believe me?”

“…I wouldn’t believe it easily.”

“Exactly. Faith builds up through absolute belief. If the object of faith changes abruptly, belief itself inevitably weakens. And on top of that, I don’t have the power to manifest myself anymore.”

“In other words, I have no way to restore your divinity.”

Her voice dispersed with an oddly lonely tone.

“……Then what happens to you?”

“A forgotten god disappears.”

“But aren’t you the real Kalannon?”

“I already told you, there is no ‘real’ Kalannon. Gods are ultimately beings created by their followers, unless they are primordial gods.”

“So gods are defined by those who believe in them.”

“Exactly.”

Behind his blank expression, Alon felt slightly awkward.

Even though it wasn’t intentional, the fact remained that he had inadvertently obtained Kalannon’s divinity, placing her at the brink of erasure.

And through their conversation, he also realized why merely being ‘mistaken’ for someone allowed him to wield the divinity of the Primordial Elf.

As this new understanding settled in—alongside a lingering awkwardness—

“So, I wanted to ask… could you do me a favor?”

“A favor?”

Kalannon cautiously inquired.

“Yes. I know that disappearing is a natural rule, but… I still don’t want to vanish. Could you help me?”

“You know a way to avoid being erased?”

“It’s not as difficult as you might think. In fact, it could even be beneficial for you.”

“…What’s the method?”

“You just have to learn how to wield Kalannon’s divinity.”

A surprisingly simple method.

“That will keep you from disappearing?”

“Hmm—yes. Though to be precise, there’s a bit more ‘work’ involved. But if you can fully control Kalannon’s power, I can avoid erasure. I have my own means of managing that.”

“It’s not exactly an offer I have a reason to refuse.”

Indeed, the proposal actually worked in his favor.

As Alon nodded, Kalannon clapped her hands together.

“Then, please find the symbol.”

“……The symbol? Wait, wasn’t that monument in the kingdom the symbol?”

“That was just a stone infused with Kalannon’s power. The real symbol is somewhere else.”

Just as Alon was about to ask for more details—

Rumble!

“!?”

Suddenly, the world began collapsing inward, as if it were being crushed.

Alon turned to Kalannon in alarm, and she, too, hurriedly spoke.

“Uh, Alon? Please, I really need you to do this. You have to reach the symbol within a week, okay?”

“A week?”

“Yes. Right now, there’s… something weird lurking near the symbol, but please, I’m counting on you.”

“I’ll try my best.”

“Don’t just try, you absolutely mu—”

Before she could finish her sentence—

“Ah.”

“…What’s wrong?”

“Nothing. Never mind.”

Alon had returned to his original location.

He was back in the palace where he had entered.

Scanning his surroundings, he let out a quiet sigh.

“I guess I should get going.”

***

Upon arriving at the audience chamber, Alon faced the King of Luxibl.

“……”

Exuding the majesty of a ruler surpassing even that of a mere duchy,

King Pamilono of Luxibl looked down at Alon.

And beside him—

There was a very familiar face.

‘Jenira?’

The quick-witted younger sister of Syrkal, the woman who had sought him out during the previous ball.

She now stood beside King Pamilono, as if serving as his strategist.

Alon blinked at the sight for a moment before stepping forward toward Pamilono.

“Are you Marquis Palatio?”

A deep, resonant voice rang out.

Ha—

Alon, accustomed to such situations, prepared to bow politely in greeting—

Clang!

—Only to be interrupted.

“?”

As he lifted his head again, he saw Pamilono looking at Jenira with a bewildered expression.

More precisely, at the shattered remains of a wine bottle in her hand.

“Oops, my mistake. I accidentally broke the bottle.”

Holding the broken neck of the wine bottle like a makeshift weapon, Jenira apologized in a tone that lacked any sincerity.

Drip—Drip—

“???”

Like drops of blood, red liquid trickled down from the broken glass.

Alon’s face twisted in confusion—

“Be careful.”

“Yes.”

“Hmm—”

Pamilono cleared his throat once again.

“Welcome to Luxibl, Marquis Palatio.”

Exuding his regal authority once more,

Clang~!

Yet another wine bottle shattered.

“Oh my, I’m really sorry. I keep making ‘mistakes.’”

Hadn’t she just smashed that against the wall on purpose?

Alon thought as much but dared not say it aloud.

Meanwhile, Jenira, still holding a broken bottle, stared intently at Pamilono.

Alon was just about to tilt his head in confusion when—

“……Marquis Palatio, welcome.”

Unlike before, King Pamilono’s tone now carried an unmistakable formality.

And as Alon saw Jenira nod in satisfaction—

“……Ah.”

He finally understood.

He now had a clear grasp of exactly what kind of situation this kingdom was in.